As React continues to grow in popularity, developers are constantly seeking efficient and effective solutions for styling their applications. Meta’s solution StyleX fills this need by offering a versatile toolkit that caters to the diverse styling requirements of modern web development projects. With its focus on scalability, efficiency, and type safety.
Before we start exploring StyleX, it’s good to have some basic knowledge about React.js and how front-end development works. You should be comfortable with JavaScript, JSX (which is like HTML but for React), and how to manage packages with npm. It’s also helpful to know a bit about CSS, the language used to style websites.
To get started with StyleX in your React project, you’ll first need to install it as a dependency. You can do this using npm, the Node.js package manager. Open your terminal or command prompt and navigate to your project directory. Then, run the following command:
I decided to put together a guide to set up a React development environment with StyleX using Vite. We chose Vite for its speed and efficiency, making it an ideal choice for React projects. Below are the installation steps:
# Step 1: Create a Vite project with React
npm create vite@latest
cd vite-project
npm install
# Step 2: Install StyleX
npm install --save @stylexjs/stylex
# Step 3: Install vite-plugin-stylex
npm i vite-plugin-stylex
# Step 4: Edit vite.config.js
# Add the following line
import styleX from "vite-plugin-stylex"
export default defineConfig({
# Add styleX() to the plugins
plugins: [react(), styleX()],
})
# Step 5: Edit package.json
# Add this to your package.json.
"overrides": {
"vite-plugin-stylex": {
"@stylexjs/babel-plugin": "0.4.1"
}
}
# Step 6: Update the project
npm update
# Step 7: Run the project in dev mode
npm run devTo utilize StyleX in our project, we import the entire module using the import statement. By using * as stylex, we import all the exports from the @stylexjs/stylex module and alias them as stylex, which allows us to access StyleX functionalities throughout our codebase.
import * as stylex from "@stylexjs/stylex";import "./App.css";
import * as stylex from "@stylexjs/stylex";
import Button from "./Common/Button";
const styles = stylex.create({
btnContainer: {
display: "flex",
alignItems: "center",
justifyContent: "center",
},
main: {
color: "blue",
},
});
const App = () => {
return (
<>
<h1 {...stylex.props(styles.main)}>
Introduction to StyleX: Meta's Solution for Styling in React
</h1>
<div {...stylex.props(styles.btnContainer)}>
<Button btnTxt={"cick me"} variant="danger" />
<Button btnTxt={"cick me"} variant="primary" />
</div>
</>
);
};
export default App;The code illustrates a React application that uses the StyleX library for style. It initially loads a CSS file with extra styles and the StyleX library for dynamic styling. The primary React component, App, displays a title and a container with StyleX-styled buttons. The stylex.create() function establishes the styles for the button container and the main title, allowing for more flexibility and modular design. The primary title of the App component is displayed with StyleX styles, which ensures consistent theming across the application.
A container with buttons is also shown, each with a distinct style depending on their version, exhibiting StyleX’s adaptability in handling component styling. Overall, the code demonstrates the integration of StyleX into a React application to achieve dynamic and consistency.
In our code, we have a Button component that is being utilized in the App component. We are also passing some props to the Button component. These props likely include the text to be displayed on the button (btnTxt) and the variant of the button (variant).
Now, let’s explore what’s inside the Button component and how we can utilize these props to apply conditional styling using StyleX.
import React from "react";
import * as stylex from "@stylexjs/stylex";
interface ButtonProps {
btnTxt: string,
variant?: "primary" | "danger",
isLarge?: boolean
}
const btnStyle = stylex.create({
base: {
fontSize: "20px",
padding: "10px"
},
primary: {
background: "blue"
},
danger: {
background: "red"
}
Large:{
fontSize:"3rem"
}
})
function index({ btnTxt, variant = "primary", isLarge = false}: ButtonProps) {
return (
<div>
<button {...stylex.props(btnStyle.base,btnStyle[variant], isLarge && btnStyle.large)}>
{btnTxt}
</button>
</div>
);
}
export default index;The Button component is a functional React component that renders a button element with dynamic styling based on the supplied properties. It imports the React and StyleX libraries to manage styles. The ButtonProps interface specifies the components’ expected props, such as btnTxt for the button text and an optional variation parameter, which can be “primary” or “danger” to signal alternative button styles.
Within the component, StyleX is used to build button styles. The btnStyle object defines three styles: a basic style (base) for typical button attributes like font size and padding, and two variant styles (primary and danger) for changing background colors depending on the variation prop. We have also a conditional property large that can be controlled from props and based on that styling will applied.
The index function is the primary component function, which renders the button element. It destructures the props sent to the component, and if no variation prop is provided, it defaults to “primary”. The button element is styled conditionally using StyleX’s stylex.props() method, which applies both the base style and the relevant variant style based on the variation prop value.
Finally, the index component is exported as the default export, so it may be imported and used in other program areas.
This Button component showcases the use of StyleX for dynamic and conditional style in React components, resulting in a versatile and maintainable method for styling UI elements.
Create API: The create() method is used to define styles in StyleX. It takes an object as an argument, where each key represents a style rule and its corresponding value represents the CSS properties. This method returns a style object that can be applied to React components using the props() method.
Props API: The props() method is used to apply styles to React components. It accepts one or more style objects created using the create() method and merges them. The resulting style object can then be spread onto React components as props to apply the defined styles. This method enables dynamic and conditional styling of React components based on different criteria.
By using the create() and props() methods provided by StyleX, developers can efficiently define and apply styles to React components, facilitating the creation of dynamic and visually appealing user interfaces.
Type safety assures that only certain types of values can be set to a property, reducing accidental mistakes and increasing code dependability. In the given example, the customStyle prop is specified using the StyleXStyles type, which describes the structure of the custom styles object that may be sent.
interface ButtonProps {
btnTxt: string,
isLarge: boolean,
variant?: "primary" | "danger",
customStyle?: stylex.StyleXStyles<{ margin?: string }>
}
//styling code
.
.
.
//styling code
function index({ btnTxt, isLarge = false, variant = "primary", customStyle }: ButtonProps) {
return (
<div>
<button {...stylex.props(btnStyle.base, btnStyle[variant], isLarge && btnStyle.large, customStyle)}>{btnTxt}</button>
</div>
);
}The customStyle attribute is required to be an object containing CSS properties, with the exception that only the margin property is permitted. If a developer attempts to assign any other style property, TypeScript will generate a compile-time error, informing the developer of the erroneous usage. This guarantees that only valid styles are supplied to the customStyle parameter, avoiding runtime problems and ensuring stylistic uniformity throughout the application.
By ensuring type safety in this way, developers can write more robust and error-free code, identifying possible issues early in the development process and increasing the overall quality and maintainability of their React apps.
In this blog, we’ve explored Meta’s solution for styling in React applications. We’ve learned about its powerful API, including the create() and props() methods, which streamline the styling process and allow for dynamic styling based on props. By integrating StyleX into React components, developers can efficiently manage styles, ensuring consistency and flexibility in their UI designs. StyleX offers an intuitive syntax and type-safe approach.
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